Biography

Musician and LGBT/social activist, Jen Grygiel, has teamed up with New England-based music retailer, Newbury Comics, to donate proceeds from her Grygiel EP to the It Gets Better Project, which seeks to help LGBT youth envision a life worth living. The EP is being sold at Newbury Comics 29 retail stores throughout New England.

Grygiel is set to perform at CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival showcase on October 21st alongside other indie buzz acts Lily & The Parlour Tricks, The Hush Now, Destry and Mercies, and at Allston, MA landmark OBriens with Lovers, Des Ark and The Shondes on November 17th.

Music makes it better. Grygiel, originally from upstate NY, learned this early on after her parents brought her back a guitar from a trip to Branson, Mo. Little did they know that this instrument probably saved her life.

After playing under various band names (MEandJOANCOLLINS, Steel Poniez, and Yes, Sir), Grygiel is embracing who she isan out musician who is proud of her name. Dan Savage and the It Gets Better Project are helping her story gain widespread attention after her offer to speak at her former high school as an out alumni was ignored. This experience inspired Grygiel to co-found an organization, No Gay Left Behind, to encourage high school alumni to form virtual gay-straight alliances.

Grygiel writes about love, painful experiences, and things that piss her off. The lead track on her latest EP, 5:30 am, is a result of nights spent lying awake prior to a break-up, while Drive Me is a hopeful track that captures those excited moments after finally meeting a sweet girl. With the help of Woolly Mammoth Sound, she will be releasing a single this fall titled, Make it Out, which is a song-ified version of her It Gets Better story.